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Nosgothica
Nosgothica are fictional type of Sanguisuge, associated exclusively with Vampirism in the Sourcelands, and exclusively exist within the Source Lands Setting. The Nosgothica are the only Sanguisuges in their setting, that retain human traits and, to an extent, still appear human, with all having been human to begin with. * Note: in the above sentence, the word "human" is used liberally, and in this case means any sapient humanoid species that can contract vampirism. History The history of the Nosgothica has been lost to the ages of time, but the most popular creation myth - guaranteed to be entirely incorrect, but probably at least a poor reflection of actual occurrences. Garkain Sometime before the human rebellions, Garkain, the first High Priest of the Dark Lord selected 13 women to bear children of the most worthy champions of the Dark Lord, and then fractured his own tainted soul into 13 fragments, intended to enter the fetuses of these pregnant women, however, Garkain failed to understand that souls, by nature, refuse to enter a fetus, and instead went into the women themselves, the Blood Mothers. The Blood Mothers The Blood Mothers, contrary to many myths, are claimed by the Elders, to have died shortly after giving birth to their undead fetuses, that consumed their own mothers - thus claiming the soul-fragments of Garkain for themselves. The First-Clans According to the myth, the 13 undead creatures that emerged from their mothers were spirited to different regions of the known world. Each of these 13 first-vampires, each began to take on Garkain's own likeness, but all of them were different, and all of them possessed a severe hatred for Garkain, because they also possessed what remained of the souls of their mothers. From these 13 Vampires sprung the 13 Clans of Vampires, that all vampires now trace their lineage to, and for the most part, Clan Heritage is often a matter of geography, but this becomes less and less so in the later eras. * Note: Unlike in Vampire the Masquerade, clans are in no way political - they're more like ethnicity for Vampires, and have no real bearing on alliances, but admittedly, Bloodlines that share a common First-Clan are more likely to form a Covenant. Nosgothica Strains Saying that there are multiple "strains" of vampirism is both incorrect and confusing, because it seems to indicate that vampirism is a disease, whereas it is actually an affliction of the soul, but nevertheless, the three Nosgothica Strains are the Nosferatu Strain, the Dhampyr Strain, the Alp Strain and the Thin-Blooded Strain. These strains come about through different creation methods, though all are Nosgothica. Creation Methods Vampires commonly refer to their methods of creation as specific Ritual-Paths, but the bottom line is that when a mortal is slain by a vampire, there is a reasonable chance that the mortal will return as a vampire themselves. It is far from a guarantee, but there is a small chance every time a Vampire kills, and the chance is significantly improved if the vampire fed on the mortal first - the Nosferatu (a specific type of Nosgothica), in addition, carry a sickness upon their fangs, that seems entirely designed to spread their condition. The Bloody Embrace When a Vampire pours its vitae into the mouth of a dead mortal, the mortal rises from the dead - not quite as a vampire, but close. The risen is known as a Ferat, and is very similar to a thin-blooded vampire - basically a lethargic barely animated, but pristine corpse that regains the vigor of the living once it has fed - but while the thin-blooded at least can feed on animals or people, the Ferat is so weak that it must feed on vitae. * The Ferat goes through a transformation that typically lasts until the last night of the coming New Moon, and then the Ferat immediately begins to transform into a Nosferatu, but it is a slow transformation that doesn't truly pick-up speed until the Full-Moon has come and gone, which is also the last deadline for the former Ferat to perform the rite of Sun's Mercy. The Corpse Path If a mortal dies while infected with Vampirism (usually this only happens if Nosferatu bit the mortal, and they died while infected with Scarlet Fever), and then placed in a dark cool place - kept away from direct contact with soil and moisture as well as sunlight, the corpse eventually turns into a Nosferatu as it awaits the coming of the New Moon, upon which the transformation is completed. When the corpse rises as Nosferatu on the last day of the New Moon, the corpse has until the next Full Moon to perform the rite of Sun's Mercy, which restores their mortal visage, or be stuck as Nosferatu. The Masked Path Differing from the Corpse Path only slightly, it requires that the corpse is fed vitae right before the last of night of New Moon, causing minimal transformation to occur before the vampire rises - such vampires rise as an Alp. This path is obscure and often goes wrong - indicating that more is necessary to complete the ritual this way, but it isn't common knowledge what or how - either way, most who become vampires on this path do so on purpose. The Last Path Known, dramatically, as "the Last Path", it was quickly discovered that Vampires who sire childer too soon (when their own Blood Potency is low) will create something known as a "thin-blooded vampire". Thin-Bloods do not really have a Vampire Strain per say, and cannot develop any Vampiric Abilities (other than Common Abilities) except if they find someone to teach them. Vampire Statistics and Terminology Some of this terminology (Generation specifically) is acceptable to use in-character, but for the most part, this is meta knowledge, and does actually reflect the language of Vampires in the Source Lands Setting. Generation A Vampire's Generation is determined by how many steps it is removed from a Higher Vampire, which is how a Bloodline forms. Because having a low generation has significant benefits in regard to power, it is always very attractive for vampires that their Sires or Grand-Sires, etc., become Higher Vampires, as it generally increases the power of all members of the Bloodline below the cut-off. * Generation exclusively affects how quickly a Vampire advances in Blood-Potency, the advancement rate starting at 100 years per Blood-Potency, assuming no ranks were taken in this advantage at all - this assumes the Vampire is "thin-blooded" - so distantly removed from the Bloodline Creator that their Bloodline may not even recognize them. * The Generation Advantage can work in one of two ways - either each rank roughly halves the amount of time needed to raise potency, or it lowers it by a decade. The first method is best for games where it isn't expected that the players will advance into double-digit power levels, and the latter is better for games where this is expected to eventually happen. * The major drawback to having a low generation, is that the vampire has shorter time to adjust to the world and gain the necessary sense of grounding to resist hibernation and develop their Nosgothica to the point where it evolves - and thus, many risk falling into a vicious cycle of hibernation. Blood Potency Blood Potency replaces a vampire's stamina attribute, and is used for the same things, but also determines a great deal of other vampire attributes. * Vampires cannot have a negative Blood-Potency, and powers that drain stamina cannot hurt a vampire's Blood-Potency - this alone is a considerable strength Vampires have over mortals, who can in fact have a negative Stamina Rating. * Vampires are undead and cannot become tired or exhausted - they can feel the urge to sleep, but not because of physical exhaustion or actual fatigue. As such, Blood-Potency does differ from stamina, but is largely used for the same rolls - though keep in mind that a Vampire will automatically succeed on any given check that merely requires the vampire to endure physical activity, as the vampire cannot fail in this. * When a Vampire's Blood-Potency reaches 6, they transition into the Lesser Vampiric form of their Strain. This transition is permanent, and no matter how much the vampire hibernates, their potency can never fall below 6. * At Blood-Potency above 7 is only achievable to Higher Vampires, and upon reaching Blood-Potency 8, a vampire will, in a relatively short amount of time, either become feral, become a Higher Vampire or enter hibernation. * At Blood-Potency 10, a Higher Vampire is forced to enter Hibernation. Blood-Potency Points Blood-Potency increases naturally every so often, but so does the Pull of the Void, and a Vampire that exclusively relies on raising its Blood-Potency naturally, unless it is of particularly low Generation, will find that the Pull likely grows stronger sooner than that they can reach a potency level where they can evolve. 100-1 100 Potency-Points are required to advance Blood-Potency artificially. * A maximum of 10 Potency-Points can be obtained by killing a "non-touch-stone" individual by means of draining their blood, but the amount of points earned depends on the level of sympathetic and meta-physical connection established between the Vampire and the Victim. * 10 Potency-Points per Blood-Potency (the victims) can be obtained by diablerizing any vampire. This can come with further complications though. Multiply the number of Potency Points earned, by the difference in Generation between the two, unless the Victim has higher Generation than the cannibalistic vampire. * A number of Potency-Points can be earned by passively adhering to the character's touch-stones. * 25 Potency-Points can be obtained by permanently resolving a Touch-Stone, but this also immediately results in 10 Void-Points. * A maximum of 10 Potency-Points can be obtained by completing an objective that adheres to the characters Mask, but the amount of points earned depends on the level of recognition the objective garners from those affected. It doesn't have to actively recognize the vampire itself, but actual recognition sprung from completion of the objective. * The Vampire passively gains a maximum 10 Potency Points per year if they help further their Anchor, or at least actively prevent it from decaying. Call of the Void The Void beckons the undead, calling for them to shed their mortal coils and whims of humanity and become a part of the Blood. 100-1 100 Void-Points result in advancing the Vampire's Call of the Void rating by one. When a vampire's Void Rating exceeds its Blood-Potency, the Vampire will have to roll Will Save vs. DC 10+(number of days passed since this became the case)+Blood-Potency every time the sun sets, to resist the call of the void. * A Vampire passively gains 10 Void Points per year of unlife. * If a Vampire loses a Touch-Stone in another way than resolving it, they gain 25 Void Points. * A Vampire can gain a maximum of 10 Void Points for failing to adhere to a Touch-Stone. * A Vampire can gain a maximum of 10 Void Points for performing an action that violates their Mask. * A Vampire that loses its Anchor can gain as much as an entire Void Rating (100 Void Points) if they lose their Anchor. * Vampires sometimes have to redefine themselves to survive. This causes Void-Points too, with it costing 10 Points to take on a new Touch-Stone, 25 to take on a new Mask and a full Void Rating (100 points) to take a new Anchor. * A Vampire can reduce its number of Void-Points by interacting with its Anchor, but no more than 25 Void-Points per year can be removed through actions of interaction with the Vampire's Anchor. The actions must be meaningful. * A Vampire loses all accrued Void-Points and resets its Void Rating to zero, if the vampire is torpid for any longer than one year. Vitae Pool A Vampire can hold a number of "points of vitae" (a size impossible to measure, but each point can be released into a form that resembles blood, each point producing roughly half a liter) equal to 10+Blood-Potency Severity Vampirism comes in five stages of Severity: Fledgling A Vampire in the Fledgling State is either a basic Nosferatu, a Rotborn or a Dhampyr, and are categorized by having the least amount of supernatural powers, most of their powers being commonly either attributed to their physical forms or being darker powers that the vampire has learned somehow. Lesser Vampire Lesser Vampires are not quite Feral, but they take on an appearance that suggests that they have transformed beyond human form. Higher Vampire Higher Vampires, are Vampires that have seen their entire host-body transform into Shadowmeld. They shed even more of their mortal limitations, and almost all of them have some sort of major shape-shifting abilities. * Note - Higher Vampires are sometimes referred to as Incubi, due to the fact that the Nosgothica becomes very similar in nature to an actual Incubus - actually identical, other than nature and behavior, but physically the same. Feral Feral Vampires, the Draugr, are terrible creatures to encounter, that have lost their humanity and are nothing more than dangerous cunning predators. Any type of vampire, except Higher Vampires, can become a draugr at any stage of their transformation, but it is particularly common for Fleders to eventually become draugr. * Vampires of different types will typically look considerably different when they become feral, but provided is an example of a Feral Fleder. * Feral Vampires are only in rare cases known to have returned to a stage of normalcy, and must be destroyed for the safety of all involved. * They tend to feed by completely tearing their victims apart, but some show more intelligence, or even sadism. Corrupted The Corrupted Stage occurs exclusively to Higher Vampires, and while in theory not permanent, has never actually been known to be resolved with anything short of death. Complications of Unlife Vampires do not live carefree existences. Despite not having to worry about illness, poverty, death or - really, any other mortal concerns, they have their own concerns that weigh heavily upon them. Starving Souls Vampires are by definition walking physical shells that house the black-hole soul-wise black-hole equivalent. They much more affected by matters of metaphysical importance and sympathetic connections. The Slippery Slope It is not difficult for vampires to become cynical pragmatists who have only their own best interests in mind, as they slip further and further out of sync with their mortal lives. They are often creatures of conviction, integrity and honor to begin with - creatures of habit who follow certain patterns and rituals, but the sooner they give up on those habits, the sooner they can embrace The Void, like most elders do. The Abyss When this happens, a vampire enters a vicious cycle of hibernation, where the vampire tends to be awake for a number of years and then hibernate for a significant amount of years, only to awaken and repeat the cycle. It gradually becomes more and more difficult for the vampire to maintain and find things to anchor itself to, and hope to ever escape this vicious cycle dwindles with each passing decade. Anchors A Vampire must have an Anchor in its unlife. Something that tethers the vampire to the mortal world, as otherwise, the vampires' existence becomes moot and pointless - only the vampire itself doesn't necessarily feel that way. * Every Player must choose an Anchor that becomes the focus for the vampire character's unlife, except if the character is more or less capable of continuing their mortal life - this supersedes any need to for an anchor. * Typically, a vampire develops an anchor based on their convictions and beliefs. Supernatural Powers The Nosgothica possess a number of supernatural abilities, depending on their strain in some cases. * To read more about the Supernatural Powers of the Nosgothica, please visit the article on Nosgothica Powers. Vampire society The All-Night Society, as the Vampiric Society is often called, is a subject in its own right. * See Source Lands Vampiric Society for more information on this topic. Glossary A few terms not explained elsewhere. * Note: We're for the most part using terminology from Vampire the Masquerade. Lorem Ipsum * Sire - the creator of another Vampire * Thrall - A mortal servant of a Vampire * Necromorph - Animated dead. * Necrophage - A create that eats dead flesh. * Silverite - An alloy created from Mithral and Silver. * Haven - A Vampire's hideout or home. * Court - A local Vampire Government, usually ruled by a single Vampire. * Bloodline - A Vampire of Significant power and/or influence that other Vampires can trace their lineage to, through the sires of their sire, forming a sort of family-tree in Vampire terms terms. * Clan - Usually related Bloodlines that have an alliance, but they can also be unrelated. These are often very local. * Covenant - Covenants are more easily explained as being political parties or allied groups of Vampires - typically all members of a Bloodline in a certain area will be members of the same covenant, but covenants are extremely local - usually not having presences outside of a single city. * Kindred - A collective word used for Vampires, to refer to each other in a less suspicious way. * Vampire Discipline - Or simply "Discipline"; a supernatural power that has to be mastered through practice by a Vampire. * Childe - Pronouced "Chilled", and "Childer" in plural form, is the vampiric progeny of another vampire. * Embrace - The art of making a mortal into a vampire, making the creator the Sire, and the created the Childe. * Torpor - Another word for vampiric hibernation. * Hibernation - in Vampiric Terms, it means the vampire becomes as if dead, though without rotting or decaying, and simply lies still for no specific amount of time. * Echoes of the Void - Unspoken communication between Vampires, particularly powerful within the same bloodline, allowing Vampires to instinctively draw on skills and talents from their faction, or even beyond at times, or to obtain critical information out of the blue. * Fog of Eternity - Glimpses of the lives and memories of all hibernating and non-hibernating vampires, experienced in dreams by those that slumber. * Vinculum - For Lesser Vampires, Vinculum usually lasts for a long time, but can be purged through a ritual. It is the result of two vampires drinking each others blood, becoming blood-brethren. This binds them closer together for the sake of the Echoes of the Void, and provides other minor benefits. * Vitae - Blood of a Vampire. * Diablerie - The act of a vampire cannibalizing another Vampire.